


You mustn’t forget what love can see

by loracarol



Category: Chronicles of Narnia - All Media Types, Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Christmas, Crossover, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-12
Updated: 2012-12-12
Packaged: 2017-11-20 23:41:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/591000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loracarol/pseuds/loracarol
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Bennett’s have to spend Christmas in England; Jamie’s far less then thrilled.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You mustn’t forget what love can see

Susan Porter knew without a doubt that she was dying.

It was not exactly something she wanted to burden her daughter with, not when there was nothing her daughter could do, but Susan Porter disliked the idea of dying untidily, so the morning after she realized this fact, she rang her daughter up, and informed her that she was expecting her last remaining family to come to England for Christmas (all expenses paid by Susan, of course.)

Her daughter had agreed.

Her grandchildren (apparently) had not.

In the end, they had come, but Jaime was surprisingly sulky for getting to visit a whole new country for the holidays.

Every day Jamie would look out the window, as if waiting for something to show up, and everyday that the mysterious _something_ did not show up, his sulking got worse.

“What if he thinks we've abandoned him?” Susan heard once, while checking on her grandchildren one night.

(It was force of habit, even at eighty-four, the idea of children vanishing was too frightening.)

Susan wondered who the mysterious “he” was, but even her daughter seemed not to know.

It came to a head one day, when Jamie saw snow starting to fall, and he ran outside with a whoop of joy, only for his joy to diminish when he did not see what he was searching for.

(There _was_ already snow on the ground, but Jamie had ignored it, saying it had already fallen, which mean that “he” was already there and gone.)

(Whoever “he” was.)

Putting on a smart black jacket, Susan stepped outside, and waited. Soon Jamie was done looking, and he trudged through the snow and up the porch.

“Jamie” Susan said. “I wish to speak with you.”

Jamie looked like he was about to argue, but then he slumped down, and sat next to his grandmother on the porch. He had learned, living in her house for two weeks already, that his grandmother could be quite stubborn, and when she wanted something, she got it- that was why they were in England for Christmas, after all.

“Jamie Bennett” his grandmother said, watching him. “I want you to tell me what is wrong.”

“You won’t believe me” he replied, looking away.

His grandmother sniffed imperiously. “I think you would be surprised at what I do and do not believe in” she said.

Jamie looked at her; he did not know his grandmother very well, but telling her couldn't hurt, right? And if she thought he was crazy, he only had to be with her until Christmas, and he could find ways to avoid her in the meantime. “I was hoping Jack Frost had shown up,” he admitted

She raised one eyebrow, “Jack Frost?”

Jamie nodded. “He’s the one who brings snow days, and makes the frost designs on your window! He left after last Easter, but I was hoping he’d be back for winter, but he hadn't show up yet, and I tried to let him know that we were leaving, but that didn't work out.”

“How were you planning on telling him?” Susan asked curiously.

“I was going to try and pull a tooth, and then leave a note for the Toothfairy to take to him, but none of my teeth are loose, and none of my friends’ teeth were either.” Jamie slumped back, dejected. “He’s going to think that we left him.”

“Is that all that upsets you?” Susan asked, more gently, reaching around, and carefully hugging him.

“No…” Jamie admitted. “But… It’s hard to believe in him when he’s not here, especially when I don’t know how to tell him I’m here,” Jamie continued, sniffing. “He asked me if I stopped believing in the moon when the sun came up, or if I stopped believing in the sun when clouds covered it, and I don’t stop believing, but it’s _hard_.”

Susan stiffened as she held her grandson close. Hadn't she stopped…? “It _is_ a good lesson” she said after a long pause. Then, fiercer, she continued, “you must not stop believing in him Jamie Bennett. Promise me that?”

He looked at her, surprised at the vehemence in her voice. No other adult had believed in Jack Frost, and he had started to believe that no adult ever would; the fact that it was his stern, taciturn grandmother was surprising. “I promise.” Jamie said, sitting up from his grandmother’s embrace, and wiping his eyes.

“Good” Susan replied, holding Jamie’s face in one hand, and briskly wiping his face clean with a handkerchief. “And it’s a good lesson. Promise me Jamie that you’ll never forget it.”

Jamie looked at his grandmother. She had an expression on her face that he didn't like, it was sad, wistful, and full of _pain_.

(There was something else in her gaze too, something that recalled royalty, of a kind that Jamie had never seen before, and thus he did not recognize it.)

“I promise” he said, hugging her tightly.

The tone of voice he used was so familiar, and yet so foreign to Susan, that it took her aback; he sounded (save for the accent) like her brothers had, once upon a time.

It wasn't just his manners that reminded her of the family she had lost- his belief in his friend reminded her so painfully of her younger sister, it almost hurt too much to bear.

She wondered idly how her granddaughter would turn out, and it broke her heart that she would not be there to see it.

So lost was she in memories, that she barely noticed when he drew away, only realizing it when asked her in shock “are you okay? You’re crying!”

(For grandmothers do not cry.)

Susan Porter, once Pevensie, once and always The Gentle reached up, and found she was in fact weeping.

“Just remembering” she said. “Have I ever told you about my sister, and my brothers? They died when we were young. You would have liked them, I think. You remind me of my younger sister, Lucy, when she was your age…”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not really sure if this qualifies as a crossover or not, as only one character is crossing over, and even then, it's not really the character, but my interpretation of the character as an old woman... If anyone thinks otherwise, I will change the tagging. ^^;


End file.
